


Mood Music

by MonkeyBard



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: 221B Ficlet, Prompt Fic, Sherlock's Violin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 06:48:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19806913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonkeyBard/pseuds/MonkeyBard
Summary: John has learned how to listen.





	Mood Music

**Author's Note:**

> JWP #14: Musical Chairs. Choose one (or more) of the following musical prompts to inspire you today!  
> The Beautiful Blue Danube. The Demand of Man. Scheherazade. (All searchable on YouTube.)  
> A/N: Have I mentioned how much I love the 221B format?

Sometimes Sherlock ‘spoke’ with his violin. John could often tell his partner’s mood by standing outside 221B and listening.  
  
A waltz was generally a good sign. Often light or playful. If he heard a frothy waltz, odds were good it would be a pleasant evening indeed.  
  
Something dark and heavy meant Sherlock was brooding. If they were enmeshed in a difficult case it was likely he wouldn’t acknowledge John’s return, being too caught up in thought. If they weren’t, John knew to enter cautiously; there was something Sherlock needed to say, but didn’t want to or didn’t know how.   
  
If Sherlock was improvising, like now, John had learned to wait and listen hard. Was the music frenetic or melancholic? Lyrical or violent? The tone of the piece could tell him Sherlock’s mood and whether it was safe to come in or better, perhaps, go for supper at the pub alone.  
  
Tonight, the music sounded anxious and frantic. Tension building without the promise of a catharsis. Would his arrival be an annoying interruption or a welcome distraction?  
  
The tune took a sudden turn to quietude. Loneliness. John had his answer.  
  
He climbed the stairs and entered the flat. Trusting his statement of the obvious would give Sherlock the opportunity to chastise him (thereby cheering up his partner), John announced prosaically, “I’m back.”


End file.
